Big names join forces in Jacksonville-area real estate

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com -- 1/29/14 -- Prudential Network Realty was re-branded as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. The changeover was introduced by principals of the local Prudential Network Realty and corporate leaders from Berkshire Hathaway in the Terrace Suites at EverBank Field on Wednesday January 29, 2014. After Alan Copertino, General Manager of Gibraltar Title Services, who portrayed Dr. Emmett Brown from "Back to the Future" pretended to connect two ends of an electric cable that lead to the new corporate name to appear on the scoreboard in the stadium. (The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack)

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com -- 1/29/14 -- Prudential Network Realty was re-branded as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. The changeover was introduced by principals of the local Prudential Network Realty and corporate leaders from Berkshire Hathaway in the Terrace Suites at EverBank Field on Wednesday January 29, 2014. (From left) Bob Moline, President and COO of HomeServices of America, Inc., talks to the group about the history of the company and the future of the new group. (The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack)

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com -- 1/29/14 -- Prudential Network Realty was re-branded as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. The changeover was introduced by principals of the local Prudential Network Realty and corporate leaders from Berkshire Hathaway in the Terrace Suites at EverBank Field on Wednesday January 29, 2014. (From left) Bob Moline, President and COO of HomeServices of America, Inc., Linda H. Sherrer founder, President and CEO of Prudential Network Realty and Earl Lee, CEO of HSF Affiliates, LLC, stand together as the event gets underway. (The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack)

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com -- 1/29/14 -- Prudential Network Realty was re-branded as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. The changeover was introduced by principals of the local Prudential Network Realty and corporate leaders from Berkshire Hathaway in the Terrace Suites at EverBank Field on Wednesday January 29, 2014. Linda H. Sherrer, (L) founder, President and CEO of Prudential Network Realty watches with Christy Budnick, Executive Vice President with Prudential (now Berkshire Hathaway) as Alan Copertino, (R) General Manager of Gibraltar Title Services, portrays Dr. Emmett Brown from "Back to the Future" as he pretends to connect two ends of an electric cable that lead to the new corporate name to appear on the scoreboard in the stadium. (The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack)

Prudential Network Realty officially took on a new name Wednesday. It’s now Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Network Realty.

The company — with eight offices and 327 agents and employees — is still owned by the same partners, led by Linda Sherrer.

But it is now affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway, which is led by billionaire Warren Buffett and last year topped Barron’s list of most respected companies in the world. The event was celebrated in the Terrace Suites at EverBank Field — part awards ceremony, part business talk and part pep rally.

“It really means the best of both worlds,” Sherrer said. “It gives us the powerhouse of Berkshire Hathaway and more global reach than what we’ve had in the past.”

The current company has a complicated past.

In 2011, Prudential Financial sold its real-estate brokerage to Brookfield Residential Property Services for $110 million. The next year, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices took majority interest in a venture with Brookfield for a real-estate network.

That produced a new company, HSF Affiliates, which is what the former Prudential Network is now part of.

Earl Lee, CEO of HSF, came in for the event and said the hundreds of agencies that were in Prudential were invited to join his network. Or they could remain with the Prudential brand for the remainder of their franchise network.

But the transitions to Berkshire Hathaway have been fast, he said. So far, a little more half of the Prudential offices nationwide have made the switch. Lee said they’ve already attended 16 of these ceremonies this month. Tampa was earlier in the week, Jacksonville was Wednesday and Gainesville will be Thursday.

HomeServices America is actually a family of 30 real estate companies and is the second-largest in the country.

The largest is Realogy, whose brands include Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA.